Duke Early Decision

Colleges & Universities Duke University
1

<p>What % of applicants got in ED for last year?</p>

<p>Also Duke has been my first choice college for quite a while. Could anyone tell me if these stats would be enough to be a competitive applicant? </p>

<p>GPA (Weighted): 5.244 GPA (Unweighted): 3.81 Rank: 31/352
SAT I: Critical Reading 630 / Mathematics 780 / Writing 720 = 2130<br>
SAT II: Chemistry 750 / Mathematics Level 2 800 / U.S. History 700
ACT Composite Score: 31 (English 34/ Math 34/ Reading 25/ Science 29)</p>

<p>I am trying to decide whether or not to send my ACT score. Do admissions officers look at the subscores? I don’t know if I should send this score because my reading subscore is very low but my composite score is in the range for accepted applicants according to collegeboard (29-34).</p>

<p>AP Scores:
AP English Language & Composition (4)
AP World History (5)
AP US History (5)
AP Calculus AB (5)
AP Chemistry (5)
AP Physics B (5)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities
National Honor Society (10, 11, 12), Executive board (12); National Latin Honor Society (9, 10, 11, 12); Tri-M Music Honor Society (10, 11, 12); Symphonic Orchestra (9, 10, 11, 12); Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra (10); ; Baltimore County Math League (10, 11); Maryland Mathematics League (10, 11); Key Club (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>Academic Honors & Achievements
AP Scholar with Distinction, Maryland Distinguished Scholar Honorable Mention, All Honors Baltimore County Orchestra (9, 10, 11, 12); Honors Music Award (9, 10, 11, 12); selected for Side-by-Side Concert with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (11); Breakfast of Champions Award Ceremony (9, 10, 11); team member for Towson at American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) national competition at Penn State (11), Varsity Athletic Award (9, 10, 11, 12); Scholar Athlete Award (9, 10, 11, 12); Superior rating playing Level 6 pieces at both District and State Solo & Ensemble Festival (9, 10); Pass With Distinction Trinity Guildhall Level 4 Music Theory Exam (10); National Latin Exam & National Mythology Exam Certificate of Merit (9); Member of National Society of High School Scholars (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>Volunteer Activities
Volunteered at Greater Baltimore Medical Center 60+ hours: patient transport, filing and assisting in neurosurgeon’s office
Towson Key Club: various community activities, car washes, book wrapping at Barnes & Nobles, bingo at nursery homes, craft projects, etc.
National Honor Society: tutoring students after-school, leader in performing school and community volunteer service as a member of the Executive Board</p>

<p>Computer Skills
Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel
Basic Networking: Certificate to Introduction to Networking Cisco Course</p>

<p>Sports & Other Activities
Varsity Badminton Team (9, 10, 11, 12) County Champions (9, 10, 11)
Bronze medal in Boys Doubles at Baltimore County HS Badminton Championships (11)
Loch Raven Badminton Club (10, 11, 12)
Recreational Tennis 2005-present
Private Violin Study 2003-present
Nativity Church Youth Fellowship (9, 10, 11, 12): currently playing in Worship Band</p>

<p>Courseload: extremely rigorous
Essays and Recommendations: Good but probably not spectacular</p>

<p>Also one of my concerns is that I took Latin I and Latin II in middle school (they show on my transcript) and Latin III in high school. I stopped there because my school didn’t offer more than Latin IV and Latin IV was an online class. Is this going to be a problem?</p>

<p>Any suggestions or comments would be much appreciated.</p>

2

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<p>36% acceptance rate ED for class of 2013
16% RD rate
18% overall</p>

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<p>I would send all your test scores. Your ACT reading and SAT verbal are on the low end, but your other scores are solid and will give the admissions committee a better grasp of you. Yes, they look at subscores. </p>

<p>Middle 50% Range of SAT and ACT Scores for Accepted Students (Class of 2013)</p>

<p>Trinity:
SAT Verbal/Critical Reading 670-780
SAT Math 680-780
SAT Writing 680-770
ACT Composite 30-34</p>

<p>Pratt:
SAT Verbal 690-770
SAT Math 700-800
SAT Writing 690-770
ACT Composite 33-35</p>

<p>Yeah, somehow engineers beat Trinity students in writing and verbal scores (barely) as well as math. :wink: (Although 75th percentile for Trinity verbal is 10 pts higher than Pratt’s, so I guess you could argue otherwise)</p>

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<p>No, don’t worry about it. Duke doesn’t hold it against you if your school doesn’t offer a class; and they look at that stuff closely. Rigor based on the *available *courses might be the most important criteria for Duke admissions (they’re not impressed with perfect grades by somebody who didn’t take numerous APs at a school that offers AP classes). Your curriculum sounds appropriately rigorous.</p>

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<p>Yes, you’ll be a competitive applicant. ED definitely would help your chances. Verbal/Reading scores are low, but other scores are very solid. ECs are solid as well. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thank you! This information helps me very much. Also, I was born in India and although English is my best language, I speak a different language at home. Hopefully this will help support my low verbal scores. I think I will be applying to trinity because I am not quite sure what my major will be. I was considering biomedical engineering but I don’t think I will put that down on the duke application. If I get into trinity but I decide I want to major in biomedical engineering later on, will I be allowed to do that?</p>